In my ministry I know folk who are wanting to follow Jesus but just can’t see how to do it in the reality of thier lives - they are controlled by fear of organised criminals and fear of the law. Not knowing what else to do for them I went down to church and prayed and proclaimed Jesus release and freedom for them. I have been praying with real faith since then and two practical “solutions”  have come my way in the last couple of days - don’t yet know the outcomes but there is a little hope - where there seemed to be no hope.

In my ministry I know folk who are wanting to follow Jesus but just can’t see how to do it in the reality of thier lives - they are controlled by fear of organised criminals and fear of the law. Not knowing what else to do for them I went down to church and prayed and proclaimed Jesus release and freedom for them. I have been praying with real faith since then and two practical “solutions”  have come my way in the last couple of days - don’t yet know the outcomes but there is a little hope - where there seemed to be no hope.

An excellent manifesto to benchmark our political parties against in an election year.  We should all think seriously about how we intend to vote and what effect it will have on others, not just our own family situations.

Many people in the developing world are oppressed by poverty,which limits their life chances.

I have chosen to support www.kiva.org; an international not-for-profit online microfinance group through which you can make small loans to individuals seeking to develop very small businesses to provide for their families and find a way out of poverty. Kiva loan requests are ‘approved’ by local microfinance groups; it’s a very direct way of giving someone in another country a hand up.Loans can be as little as $25 (about £16). I like that I am supporting an individual, through an established network.

I’ve been thinking about what oppresses people in our society. We think we have freedom - but so many of us are enslaved by materialism, by fashion, by the need to achieve, by money, by the belief that what we can see and touch is all there is to life. There is a spiritual blindness in our society.

This passage has me thinking about the many ways we are oppressed - by circumstances, disease, thoughts, possessions - and how much power there is in living God’s will to see the truth and gain freedom from those things. For example, even if we can not be rid of a disease, we can live with freedom through God’s grace. I am prayerfully considering the verses everyday while stitching prayer shawls for a hospital. The first two days have helped me see that in a small but important way, I am giving comfort to patients by showing them God’s love through the warm hug of the shawls.

Having thought about the poor yesterday, it strikes me that today’s verse could be talking about money.  So many people are slaves to material things and are blinded by their desire for wealth.  We must open our eyes and our hearts to the good news of Jesus to set us free.

I feel that God is saying that he will give sight to the spiritually blind.
We must pray that all people will soon have the religious freedom that we take for granted in this country.

This is of course based on the great prophetic text from Isa 61. Some studies I did many years ago suggested that the Spirit endowed Servant was faithful Israel as a body of people. The faithful community were to be the releasers of prisoners, the healers and the builders of a new life for their nation. When Jesus took the passage as his own he was announcing that it was his mission to. And through the Spirit in us we are also called to be the liberators and healers of our communities and nation. As a member of Amnesty International I think this is great manifesto for much Christian action.

Lord release us from the captivity of sin, give sight to those who can’t see you, and ensure everyone who believes in you is free to worship.  Amen

Today’s verse made me look at an email I’d kept for a few week from Joyce Meyer Ministries. I’d felt a need to keep it for some appropriate time in the near future, which, funnily enough, was today.

She spoke about a man handing out tracts in the street saying ‘Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you’. One woman replied ‘You know what…your sermon and gospel tracts aren’t going to fill my belly’.

Sometimes we need to provide for other’s needs before we can fully invite them to God. We need to show others we care, living the Gospel before we tell it.

Time to pray I think!

I feel that God is saying that he will give sight to the spiritually blind.
We must pray that all people will soon have the religious freedom that we take for granted in this country.

To realise what being blind really means, try getting someone to blindfold you and take you some where like your local town centre and see how you get on finding your way around. It is a truly humbling experience. For the less brave, try the same experiment in your church or church hall. You will never again want to say no to helping charities for the blind!

I was an Atheist for a very very long time and “thought” I was free.. Then I saw the Glory of Jesus and now I “know” I am free.

This verse has resonance to me - I had cataract surgery last year - I am so lucky to have had that chance. I felt free and blessed. I went out & took photos of my landscape with new vision. This is a message of hope for everyone

For me, this passage speaks of the love God has for people who living under oppressive regimes and perhaps it means these people may eventually live under rulers who care for them and share the wealth of the country so all can benefit.

I felt that as well as praying I needed to do something practical to help those with sight problems in the developing world. So I did a Google search & found SightSavers (an ‘international charity working with partners to eliminate avoidable blindness and promote equality of opportunity for disabled people in the developing world’). On the website the Restoring Sight page says: ‘Imagine being blind for want of a simple operation’ & shows examples of what gifts could help towards e.g. child cataract op. If anyone else feels similarly led here’s the url: http://www.sightsavers.org/default.htm

The ultimate freedom is freedom from death which Christ paid the price for by dying on the cross in our place. Yours and mine. What a miracle. and how blessed i am. i want to pass it on to others but often don’t have the right words to say or allow my selfish nature to think that they don’t want to hear it instead of allowing God’s nature to rule over the situation. I need to trust Him more.

A lady to came to church on sunday - has only been a few times before - during the service God spoke directly about a situation she had been talking about with the lady who had given her a lift. He spoke in the sermon, in a song written by one of the band members, in a testimony, and in the reading. At the end of the service there was time to come forward and pin something on the cross as a sign of giving it to God. She came forward and God met her - she was so amazed, she now knows that God cares about her - specially about her. She said she feels loved for the first time since she was seven.

It is my belief that true freedom allows us to let God work through us. God sees us as we are and we need to ackowledge this.

decided to donate to a charity for the blind. http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/ is one example.

I thank Jesus for the reality of the truth of these words, I was once in darkness and now I see I was once captive in my body in two incurable diseases. Through a God given understanding of this word He has set me free. I now pray to share this word with others that are captive. “Praise the Lord”